


Did Someone Say Birth-to-the-Day? by MusicalLuna

by MusicalLuna



Category: Psych
Genre: Alcohol, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Party, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Language, Originally Posted on Psychfic, Surprise Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-25
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 15:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13504497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalLuna/pseuds/MusicalLuna
Summary: Two parts guys! Just cause it's a little on the long side otherwise. :)





	1. The Three Muskateers

**Author's Note:**

> Two parts guys! Just cause it's a little on the long side otherwise. :)

It wasn’t often that both Lassiter and O’Hara’s desks were left unguarded when Shawn wanted a look at something, so he seized the opportunity when afforded it.

He flopped into Lassiter’s chair and it spun a few times before slowing and he grinned at Gus, who looked wary and eager all at once. “So where do you think he keeps his snacks?” Shawn asked, already beginning to search through the drawers.

Gus snorted. “Lassiter? Dude, I don’t think he keeps snacks. He’s not the type.”

“Everybody is the type for snacks, Gus. Who doesn’t need sustenance? What kind of a person can go through the day without munching on pretzels, chomping on candy, and nibbling on chips? No one. That’s who.”

“Uh, Lassiter, _that’s_ who.”

Shawn sighed, unable to find any evidence to make his case. Gus, meanwhile, had taken to shuffling through the files on Juliet’s desk, looking to see if anything caught his eye. He was flipping curiously through one of the folders when Shawn’s eyes fixed on the calendar hanging on the wall above the desk. He gasped loudly, grabbing Gus’ attention. “Gus! Look!” he exclaimed. “Jules’ birthday is on Friday!”

“Really? Do you think she’s having a party?”

“No, no, Gus, look at this,” he said, gesturing to the calendar. “She wrote it in bright blue in these large letters—I don’t think anybody knows about it. She’s hoping somebody will notice because she’s too nice to just tell people that she’d like a little recognition. And, dude, we are the perfect somebodies to give her just that!”

“I don’t know Shawn, what if she has plans?”

“Trust me, Gus. She doesn’t. This is a desperate cry for help. The ink is screaming out at the injustice of no one knowing her birthdate—” Just as Gus began to look annoyed he exclaimed, “Dude, we have to throw her a party,” and the cogs were already turning in his head.

Gus nodded slowly. “Yeah, yeah okay. Let’s do it. We’ll throw her the best party she’s ever had.”

Shawn grinned. “That’s the spirit, Gus! Now come on. We need to find Lassie.”

“Lassiter? Why do we want to find Lassiter?”

“Lassie doesn’t strike me as the type who knows how to throw a great shindig, but I think he would want to be a part of this. Even if he is still a little miffed about the whole mishap with _his_ birthday. She is his partner.”

“Yeah, okay. Dude, this is going to be really fun,” he said, sounding excited.

Shawn rolled his eyes. “Duh! Come on!” He took off down the hallway at a lope, half-sneaking for the sheer amusement of it.

~ * * * ~

“What the—” Lassiter grunted as he was yanked into an interrogation room and shoved unceremoniously into a chair. His face blackened when he looked up to see Shawn sitting across the table from him. “Spencer, what the hell do you think you’re—”

“Lassie, I know the hostility is a thing for you, but could you let it rest for like, five seconds and give me a little curiosity in its place? Just for a minute. I’m just saying, it might be nice. Don’t make me say please.”

Lassiter crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. “You have two minutes.”

“There’s a good sport!” Shawn exclaimed and when Lassiter continued to look peeved, he glanced at Gus and said, “Okay, here’s the thing. Juliet’s birthday is on Friday so Gus and myself are planning her a birthday bash to rival Oprah’s 50th.” Lassiter opened his mouth and Shawn held up a hand. “Here’s where you come in. We’re pretty sure that if you show up, it’ll make Jules’ life.”

Lassiter snorted. “Please, Spencer. Save the exaggeration.”

“Dude. I’m not,” Shawn said and behind him Gus nodded gravely. Lassiter conceded that they were probably right—he had never met anyone who was as easily pleased as his partner.

“Fine. So you just want me to show up to this— _thing?_ ”

Shawn and Gus shared another glance. “Well, yeah, but, you know, if you wanted to help a little—”

“—we wouldn’t mind,” Gus concluded.

Lassiter rolled his eyes. “And what _exactly_ do you want me to do?”

“Oh…you know…” Shawn said, “Party stuff. Stuff for the par-tay. Streamers, food, pin the tie on the de—”

“Shawn,” Gus said sharply, cutting him off. He moved closer to the table. “We just need someone to distract Juliet Friday night and then conveniently lead her to the party. We’ll take care of everything else, unless you know a great DJ, or a caterer, or maybe somewhere that she’s really fond of…”

“I don’t, but I _suppose_ I can do a little digging. And I can take care of getting her to the party. We have the dayshift Friday; we’ll be packing up around seven.” Glancing between the two friends he sighed and reached into his back pocket, extracting his wallet. He pulled out several bills and held them out. “Here. For expenses.”

Shawn didn’t bother hiding his astonished expression. “Lassie…” he started, sounding touched.

He frowned. “Shut up Spencer. She’s my partner, and she deserves this. So just—don’t screw this up, okay?”

Gus accepted the money before Shawn could grab it. “Thank you, Detective. This will be really helpful. We won’t let you down.”

“See that you don’t,” he said and rose to his feet. “You can call me with the details. Right now, I have to get back to work.”

“Thanks Lassie!” Shawn called as the detective exited the interrogation room. “You won’t regret this! It’s gonna be awesome!” He turned to Gus when the door had swung shut. “Dude, that was a lot easier than I expected it to be.”

“Seriously. I guess Lassiter has a soft spot for Juliet.”

“Well, who couldn’t? She _is_ adorable.” He jumped to his feet. “Let’s do this thing!”

~ * * * ~

Lassiter coughed, sneaking a glance at Juliet out of the corner of his eye. It was like the junior detective was exacting her revenge for all of the conversations he had shut down before. Typically she couldn’t seem to help herself, and the exuberant chatting that issued forth from her mouth was either ignored, flowing in one ear and out the other, or, if he was in a really foul mood, asked between gritted teeth to be stopped. He hadn’t realized how accustomed to it he’d become until now, when it was no longer there.

She was sitting silently in the passenger seat of the car, watching the scenery flow by the window. Even stranger than the silence was the faint sadness lingering around her eyes and mouth. He had seen the somber looks she reserved for crime scenes and dealing with victims’ families and this was nothing like that, nor did it remind him of her occasional bouts of sympathy gloom—this was more introspective. He coughed again, cleared his throat, and then posed awkwardly, “Where do you go to…hang out, O’Hara?”

She looked at him, the slightly forlorn expression on her face evaporating into wide-eyed astonishment and for just the barest second, he felt guilty. Apparently he had stopped more conversations in their tracks than he thought. Her face began to brighten, and while relieved that she didn’t look upset anymore, he knew he had likely just opened the floodgates. “Well, I—I usually don’t get a chance to go out, but there’s this really nice bar—”

Lassiter was confounded momentarily. O’Hara had never struck him as the type to spend any amount of time in bars.

“—in a restaurant called Two Tangerines that I like to go to sometimes.”

That was more like it. “Oh…really? I’ve, uh, never heard of it. It sounds…nice.” Small talk was not his forte. O’Hara didn’t seem to notice.

“It’s really nice. It’s decorated really beautifully and they have some really interesting cocktails. I’ve gone there a couple of times with Lucy and Deanna, but most of the time I go by myself,” she paused, glancing at him and then added hesitantly, “Would you…would you like to go and get a drink? I mean, you know, after work.”

He stared at her for a long moment and when her face began to flush, he realized what it must look like and said quickly, “Yeah, sure, why not, O’Hara? That would be…yeah. Okay.”

A smile crept across his face at the delirious joy that graced O’Hara’s features and the car soon returned to its typical state, the junior detective’s mouth bubbling over blissfully.

~ * * * ~

He began to have second thoughts when they stepped through the doors of the restaurant.

It was a nice place, but that was a given, O’Hara was simply too classy to accept anything less. Everything was warmly colored in rich browns and oranges, the decorations for the most part, simple, elegant and functional. The bar was long and sleek, winding along the curved left-hand wall with beautiful gold embossing in the rich wood.

As they sat down, however, O’Hara quieted and the awkwardness returned in full force. The bartender smiled as she sidled up in front of them. “Hi, guys, what can I get you?”

Lassiter glanced at O’Hara and she said, “A Tangerine Twist please.”

“Just a snifter of your best brandy, thanks.”

“All right, great, thanks. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

The two detectives were quiet again when she had gone, neither daring to look at the other. It was funny how easy it was to discuss work, robberies, homicides and other grave things like that, but when it came to making a little small talk, to talking about anything else, suddenly it was like a lead weight had been attached to his tongue.

As usual, it was O’Hara who resurrected their conversation.

“I appreciate you doing this with me,” she said and bit her lip when he met her gaze.

“No problem,” he said and he was surprised when he realized he meant it. He watched her for a moment, studying her profile and she swallowed when she caught him looking.

“What?”

He tipped his head, trying to decide if he wanted to say anything or not and said at last, “You seem…down today. Is everything…” He waved a hand vaguely. “…all right?”

She smiled warmly and said, “Yes. Everything’s okay. It’s just…” She grasped for the right words. “I’m a little bit lonely,” she finally confessed. “It’s my birthday on Friday and I haven’t really told anyone and my family is far away and…I don’t know. I guess I’m just a little sensitive right now. I know, silly, right?”

“No, O’Hara, it’s not.” She blushed again, ducking her head and the bartender returned with their drinks.

“Here you are. Enjoy.”

“Thanks.” Lassiter swirled his brandy with a practiced gesture as O’Hara sipped at her goldenrod colored drink, sighing contentedly. “I understand…how you feel,” he said after a moment.

He received another half-shocked, half-pleased expression from his partner and grimaced internally. Good lord, was he that bad? “You do?”

It was easier said than done, smothering the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. He had opened himself up for that one. “Yes. I do.” He paused and could tell that O’Hara was itching to ask what he meant but was holding her tongue, hoping she wouldn’t have to. He decided that maybe a little disclosure couldn’t hurt. “My wife and I have been separated for a long time now. It’s…difficult…going home to an empty house. Especially since our line of work makes it so tricky to fraternize with non-work friends. It can get lonely sometimes, especially around the holidays…birthdays.” He cleared his throat and quickly swallowed the brandy in his glass. The look O’Hara was giving him made him nervous.

“Thank you.”

One eyebrow quirked. “For what?”

“You know,” she said. “Sharing.”

He rolled his eyes. “Your welcome, I suppose.”

O’Hara laughed, shaking her head and said, “You know, it’s really creepy sometimes, how much you remind me of Sebastian.”

“Sebastian? And who, pray tell, is Sebastian?”

She grinned. “My older brother.”

“You have a brother?”

“Four.”

The conversation took off from there and Lassiter was shocked by how quickly an hour and a half disappeared and floored when he realized that he could genuinely say that he had enjoyed himself. It had never occurred to him that spending time with O’Hara outside of the job might be a good thing.

“I really needed this, Carlton. Thank you,” she said as they stepped outside.

He smiled and it pleased him to see the glow in her face brighten. “Anytime, O’Hara. In fact, why don’t we go out on Friday. Celebrate.”

Suns would have been masked by the radiant smile that the casual invitation elicited. “Really?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, really. So bring something to change into after work.” Damn, he was good. Although, now he was afraid that if she received any more good news, she might just explode. The party might very well be her doom.

“It’s good to know we can be friends,” she said warmly as they reached their cars. “I was afraid we might not click.”

“That’s ridiculous.” There was no point in telling her that he hadn’t either. “See you tomorrow, O’Hara.”

She waved, a smile still lingering on her face, as she climbed into her car. When she had gone, he took out his phone, flipping it open.

“Spencer? We’ve got a location.”


	2. The Guest of Honor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XDDDDDD And the final half of the story. Enjoy the smushy. XDDDDD

“Reservations?”

“Check.”

“Open bar?”

“Check.”

“Guest list?”

“Check.”

“Delicious party food and cake?”

“Check.”

“Awesome. So that means all we’ve got to do is decorate a little bit when we get there Friday and we’re good to go!”

“I’m really excited about this. Juliet is going to freak out.”

Shawn grinned. “ _Yeah_  she is.” His phone rang and he pulled it out, flipping it open. “Shawn Spencer at your service.”

“Oh goodie.”

“Lassie! What can I do you for, Lassieface?”

“I wanted to make sure you’ve got everything under control. Do you need me to do anything else?”

“Well, Gus and I could use some lunch if you—”

“Not in the mood, Spencer.”

Shawn sighed, a smile pulling at his mouth and said, “Okay fine. No lunch. Everything’s all set up for Friday. All we have to do is throw up some decorations and we’ll be in business. How’s it going on your end? Are you going to drug her? Hit her over the head?”

“We made plans to go out for her birthday and I made the ‘arrangements’. She has no idea anyone else is involved.”

Shawn didn’t miss the slightly proud sound of his voice. “Way to go Lassie! You know, if this turns into ‘more than a birthday outing’ you and I may have to exchange some words.”

Lassiter snorted. “Please, Spencer. You’re not her type.”

“Oh! And how do you know her type?”

“Ugh. I’m not having this conversation with you. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Remember, you screw this up, and I’ll kill you.”

~ * * * ~

Shawn smiled, leaning on Juliet’s desk, and Gus shot him a warning look. He doubted Shawn would do anything to compromise the surprise party, but one never knew. They had T-minus eight hours to go and if he needed to, smacking Shawn was a perfectly viable option. The fake psychic waggled his fingers by his temple and said, “Something…is going on today.”

Gus scowled from behind Juliet. If Shawn ruined this for all of them, he wasn’t going to stop Lassiter from shooting him. He might ask to take a shot himself.

A smile tugged at the corners of Juliet’s mouth. “Something. That’s very…conducive of you, Shawn.”

He grinned, amused. “Sometimes the lines to the spirit world get a little cluttered.”

“Oh, so they’re just a little congested right now? So what  _are_  you getting, Sibyl?”

Gus rolled his eyes and moved to take a closer look at the crime scene board behind Lassiter’s empty desk. Again with the flirting.

“Well, I think something big is going on today. Some kind of event in someone’s life…a bar mitzvah maybe…?”

Glancing up irritably, Gus caught a glimpse of Juliet’s half-surprised, half-hopeful, and half-(yes, three halves)awed expression. Shawn was seriously pushing it.

“Oh…something… _big_ ,” she repeated and it was easy to tell she was trying not to say anything that might suggest anything related to her.

“Yeah,” Shawn said and nodded, closing his eyes as he wiggled his fingers again. “No…not a bar mitzvah. A reunion, no, a baby shower, no, a—a—a— _three weddings and a funeral!_  No, no, that’s not it. Augh, what, what is it I’m getting?” His eyes popped open and he exclaimed, “A  _birthday!_ ” Amazed delight began growing rapidly on Juliet’s face, Gus’ own taking a more murderous swing, and after a moment he said disappointedly, “Oh, no, no…it’s not a birthday. No, no, I know what it is! Gus, it’s the anniversary of the first time a girl dumped you! That’s a shame. I love a good birthday party.”

Gus scowled, annoyed by the fact that Shawn probably wasn’t kidding and the now slightly downcast look on Juliet’s face as she sighed and sat back down at her desk. “Excuse us,” he said courteously to the junior detective and then grabbed Shawn by the front of the shirt, hauling him (whining and protesting) fifteen feet down the hallway. “Why did you do that? She was having a perfectly good day up until then!”

“Gus, we don’t want her to  _suspect_.”

“Shawn, she had no idea we even knew. What about that would make her suspicious? You’re an idiot, you know that?” he said irritably.

“This’ll just make the surprise that much better!” Shawn exclaimed.

“Whatever.”

He turned and stalked off down the hall, Shawn calling after him, “Gus? Gus!  _Gus!_ ”

~ * * * ~

Lassiter was excited despite himself when he and O’Hara left the station that evening. It had been a very long time since he had been involved in any sort of surprise party and he knew he could count on O’Hara’s reaction being particularly spectacular. She had been in a good mood all day after he had wished her happy birthday first thing that morning (at least until Spencer showed up) and she looked very nice now in a flowy red dress with her hair done. It was odd, seeing her all dolled-up and looking much prettier than he had realized she was.

“So where are we going?” she asked, her eyes glittering happily.

He smiled ever so slightly and said, “You’ll see.”

Their relationship had been easier going since their little “date” or whatever it might be called on Tuesday evening. O’Hara didn’t seem to have as much trouble sitting in silence every so often, and, while definitely not easy, he had been making an effort to contribute a little something to the conversations she did start.

She managed to stay quiet for a few minutes, biting her lower lip, but finally her curiosity overwhelmed her. “Can’t you give me a hint?”

His smile was broader this time. “I was under the impression that you liked surprises, O’Hara.”

“I  _know_  but I want to know!”

“Soon enough.”

He debated for the greater part of the trip whether or not he should make her close her eyes and finally decided to let her keep them open, lest she start suspecting something. Turning into the parking lot, he had a brief moment where he was afraid she might recognize some of the cars before realizing that Spencer had apparently considered that.  _He_  didn’t even recognize the cars. Maybe he deserved a little more credit than he had been giving him. As they pulled into a parking space he said gruffly, “I didn’t want to take you somewhere you didn’t like.”

Her face glowed. “It’s perfect, Carlton.”

~ * * * ~

Shawn bounced on the balls of his feet, scanning the crowd of people lingering around the bar, chatting and drinking and already having a good time despite their missing guest of honor. He was pretty sure he had managed to get all of the people Juliet might want there. So long as her little black book wasn’t like Lassiter’s. He swallowed a mouthful of his drink and set it back on the bar before glancing at his watch. This was the sort of thing he lived for, but the waiting part always made him antsy. It was time for things to start  _happening_.

The restaurant had allowed them to reserve the back three-fourths of the bar to themselves and he and Gus had spent an hour running around, tossing up streamers and an enormous banner that read, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULES,” in multi-colored glitter that he had made himself. The place looked great, all of the guests had showed up in plenty of time, and Lassiter had called twenty minutes ago to say that they were on route and on time. Things were going off without a hitch. He glanced at his watch again, smiled, and started toward the door, calling loudly as he went, “Okay, everybody! This is it! They’ll be here any minute! Get your best ‘Happy Birthday’s ready!”

Gus slipped in the front door, meeting him, and said quietly, “They just pulled in. We’ve got one, maybe two minutes.”

“Okay, everybody! They’re here! Time to focus, people! When she walks through the door, you know what to do!” He and Gus quickly backed up, joining the front of the crowd, who had turned, all fidgeting and murmuring anxiously.

Shawn grinned when he spotted Lassiter and Juliet stepping through the first pair of doors. He could already tell that she looked fantastic. The second door opened and they stepped through, Juliet smiling at the host and glancing at Lassiter in surprise when he put a hand on her back and gently pushed her in the direction of the bar. Her eyes moved back to the front and—

“ _HAPPY BIRTHDAY!_ ”

Lassiter couldn’t keep a smile off of his face at the look of bald-faced shock on his junior partner’s face. She simply stared for a moment, eyes very wide and then her bottom lip began to quiver slightly and her hands moved to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. “Oh my gosh… _guys_ …” she whispered.

Shawn immediately moved forward, a small grin growing on his face. “Jules, don’t  _cry_. You’re supposed to be happy. You know, like we say.  _Happy_  birthday.”

She wiped her eyes, laughing and glancing between the three of them. “You guys, I can’t believe you did this for me.”

Gus smiled. “Of course we did, Juliet. We’re your friends. What else were we supposed to do? I tell you what though, it would have been much easier if you had let us know when your birthday was a month ago.”

She laughed between trying to brush the tears away and leaned forward, pulling a pleasantly surprised Gus into a hug. He returned it warmly. “Thank you…”

“My pleasure.”

She moved to hug Shawn and he leaned into it, giving her a warm squeeze. “Seriously, Jules, you’ve gotta stop crying. You’re going to ruin your make up and then what will everybody think?” She laughed again and he leaned back, gently using his thumbs to wipe the tears from her face and straighten out the bit of make up that was starting to run. “Breathe. In and out. There you go.” He smiled. “You’ve gotta look pretty for everybody else. It’s not everyday we get to see you look this spectacular.”

Juliet blushed and hugged him quickly again. “Thank you, Shawn. This is wonderful.”

He smiled again. “Hey, anything for you Jules.”

He released her and she turned toward Lassiter. “I know you don’t like hugs but—”

“Quickly, before I change my mind, O’Hara.”

She smiled and wrapped him in a brief hug. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, happy birthday. I’m just glad Spencer didn’t screw the whole thing up.”

“How did you guys know? I didn’t tell anybody…” she said looking between the three of them.

Shawn grinned and Lassiter rolled his eyes. “Spencer ‘divined’ it on Tuesday. Insisted we throw you a party.”

Juliet smiled and she met Shawn’s gaze for a moment. “That gift of yours is handy.”

His grin broadened. “You have no idea. Now go on. You can’t talk to us all night. All these people are here for you!”

She smiled and said again, “Thank you, guys,” before moving out into the crowd.

“Not bad, Spencer,” Lassiter said when she was out of earshot.

Shawn grinned. “Gee, Lassie. I feel closer to you now than ever.”

He rolled his eyes. “You too, Guster. Adequate.”

Gus smiled. “Thank you, Detective. You didn’t totally suck either. Now, who wants a drink?”

“Ooh! I do!”

“Hell.  _Yes_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaaaaaay pointless sappy mush. I probably should have made the party more amusing, but oh well. XDDDDDDDDd I hope you guys enjoyed reading! :D

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno guys...too fuzzy for Lassie-boy? I always have such a hard time with him, because he seems like he would be very sweet when in the proper mood and with the proper people, but he's always a little awkward and abrasive. Did I strike a good balance? Love your guys feedback, so let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :D


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